Spire Institute in Geneva keeps reaching new heights

The Spire Institute, the massive athletic complex in Geneva that doubles as a home for several Olympic hopefuls, hosted another big event on Monday.Again, it featured a representative from a major collegiate conference — the Big Ten — only this time the visitor was surrounded by 350 kids in grades 1-8.The second annual Urban Meyer-Dean Hood football camp was held at Spire on Monday, and the Ohio State coach and Ashtabula native brought in 35 area high school and college coaches to help him with the one-day camp.It was the latest in a long list of big draws at Spire, and many more are expected.In a two-week span last winter, Spire played host to conference championship events from three major collegiate leagues — the Big East (track and field), Big Ten (track and field) and Atlantic 10 (swimming and diving) — along with the NAIA indoor track and field championships.During that stretch, on Feb. 22, Spire was announced as an official training site for USA Track and Field and the U.S. Paralympic basketball team. The complex — with 750,000 square feet of indoor training facilities, a synthetic turf football and soccer stadium, an outdoor track, and future outdoor complexes planned for baseball, softball and tennis, among other sports — is one of 13 independent U.S. Olympic training sites in the nation.Then there is Spire Academy, a full-time residential, athletic and training program for student-athletes, an institution for which future dormitories are planned.Factor in Spire Fit, a health and wellness center for which the public can purchase memberships, and Michael Johnson Performance, a training facility that caters to each sport's specific needs, and it's evident why Jeffrey Orloff, Spire's chief operating officer and a former senior vice president at IMG, is thinking bigger.“There's no box,” Orloff said during a recent tour of the facility. “The way I would explain it, when I was at IMG, we thought outside the box. Here, there's no box — partly because it's so young.”Orloff, who spent almost 23 years at IMG and joined Spire in March 2010, and Spire owner Ron Clutter have big plans for the world-class facility.Spire's 170 acres of property, located off Route 534, about a half-mile from Interstate 90, consists of two parcels. In late 2012, Roni Lee LLC — a company comprised of Clutter and his wife, Tracy — filed preliminary papers with the Ashtabula County Planning Commission to sell property from the 163-acre parcel to a third party, which required the nonprofit organization to dedicate its main road.On May 21, the proposed subdivision, infrastructure and road dedication — the Spire Road Subdivision — was approved, which could set the stage for much more.A hotel could be part of a development project that one day might include a retail village, restaurants, and medical research and development centers.

“It's an amazing project,” Geneva city manager James Pearson said in a recent phone interview. “We're just very fortunate to have that right in our backyard. I know there have been some recent developments with them developing some more roads. Even if you take Spire (the athletic complex) out of it, even just the traffic on (Interstate) 90 with our wineries and tourism, (the development) makes sense.”Alicia McConnell, the director of athlete services and programs for the U.S. Olympic Committee, is one of many who is excited about Spire's future.“During the press conference (Feb. 22, when Spire and the USOC announced its partnership), at the same time, they were hosting the Atlantic 10, a basketball event, the Big Ten — they're able to host a multitude of events at the same time,” McConnell said in a recent phone interview. “They have a wonderful dining facility. It's one of the largest track and field facilities in the world. The numbers that will come to the event … to host that number of events at the same time is incredible.”The facility has had its share of hiccups along the way.Last March, Crain's reported about financial troubles for Spire that began during construction of a state-of-the-art aquatics center the previous fall. Mechanic's liens totaling millions were filed, including an $8.57 million lien filed by the general contractor, Hughes-Roller Building Co. of Ashtabula.Spire's attorney, Stuart Cordell of the Ashtabula firm Warren and Young PLL, said an agreement was reached with the contractors last May.“We have made all the payments that are required,” Cordell told Crain's. “We're working together.”Cordell said that, with the exception of a “couple” contractors, everyone will have been paid in full by the end of 2013. The remaining contractors will have received full payments by the first few months of 2014.“(Clutter) was able to raise some funds through a variety of people in the community to help fund the costs of paying off the contractors and continuing to operate the business,” Cordell said. “Our income from all of the sources of revenue — We Play (the youth sports programs), the events, the school — has been growing. We're able to do a lot of things now on cash flow, but not quite all of it, so we still have to find additional sources of funding, which we're currently seeking.”One way to raise revenue is by luring corporate sponsors. Spire brought in its first — Cristal USA, the world's second-largest producer of titanium dioxide and a company that employs 800 of its 4,000 workers in two Ashtabula Township plants — in late March.As part of the agreement, Spire's indoor basketball, volleyball, wrestling, gymnastics and field hockey facility was named “The Cristal Courts.” Cristal's employees are given access to the facilities, and Spire has yet another way to aid its ever-expanding ways.Orloff on Tuesday confirmed that the Big Ten track and field championships will return to Spire in 2014, and the 2014 Atlantic 10 swimming and diving event is close to being finalized.This week, USA Wrestling invited the top 100 high school wrestlers to Spire for a seven-day camp that runs through Sunday. Seventy-five grapplers accepted the invite, making it another busy time for the facility.

There always seems to be something going on at Spire, which is good for everyone — especially young athletes in the area who have the opportunity to take advantage of everything it has to offer.

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One thing Meyer didn't want to discuss during his chat with reporters Monday: Aaron Hernandez, whom Meyer coached at Florida and is now jailed on a murder charge.“I'm not going to talk about that,” Meyer said Monday, when asked about Hernandez.Meyer did, to no one's surprise, talk about another former Gator, Tim Tebow, along with his expectations for Ohio State, which is 60 days from its season opener against Buffalo.“I think the message is real clear,” Meyer told reporters Monday. “Our focus is to get from Point A to Point B, and my job is hard in the summer when they aren't there. But the good thing is that I get a hold of them on (Aug. 3), and it will be all about getting better. A coach's biggest nightmare is when they aren't around them.”The same is often said about NFL offseasons.This one has been much different, however.The Hernandez case has been surreal, almost too bad to be true.A very promising 23-year-old tight end who last year signed a five-year, $37.5 million contract extension being charged with murder — and being questioned about two 2012 slayings.Adding to the disturbing nature of it all are the recent stories detailing the popularity of Hernandez memorabilia that is being sold online.The Boston Globe story that is linked above reports that Hernandez jerseys are being sold for hundreds of dollars on eBay.“I thought about giving it to Goodwill,” Patriots fans John Lamothe told The Globe about his Hernandez jersey, “but I didn't think anybody would want it.”Lamothe's eBay auction fetched $289.That total won't be going to the family of Odin Lloyd, the semipro football player who was allegedly murdered by Hernandez and his accomplices, but it should.You can follow me on Twitter for sports information and analysis, but not a breakdown of Tim Tebow's chances as a tight end for the Patriots.

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